Windstruck
by paper wind
Summary: (Except then, the wind came. It whipped around the small boy wildly, rushing through his blonde hair and flapping at the loose clothing relentlessly, yet strangely, to Naruto, they were like warm, soft caresses instead of cold slaps to his skin. And then he felt that connection again, the feeling of home.) There was a boy that was four when his callings had first began to sing.
1. Nature's Child

Inspired by Stormborn, written by black k kat. (I really don't know why but the periods in between won't show.)

Well. First Naruto fanfiction. "Stormborn" is way too awesome, and before I knew it, my general start and other small details were eerily similar so it only seemed right to give credit.

I'm quite aware that probably 99% of anyone that clicks on this will not trust consistency of updating, and if you did, you were right. My updates are sporadic, but they definitely _never_ take longer than a month. I seriously mean it. Maybe two weeks, if we're lucky, but I don't trust myself.

This originates from my Archive Of Our Own work, and some of my formats only show up there. Well. Just a heads up if you prefer AO3.

Disclaimer: If I _did _own Naruto, the ending would not have occurred as it did. (Honestly, it was just _so_ _darn __unsatisfying_.) Owning Naruto means owning that ending, and it would be a cold day in hell when that happens.

* * *

><p>{sentinels of a childhood long past}<br>nature's child

* * *

><p><em>Part I.<br>_I watched you / at night under the moon / when the leaves danced and the wind blew / you stared at the sky and I saw you / for the first time / mask removed / deception wiped / breathless / free / a bird of the night.

* * *

><p>Naruto first took note of his strange link to nature at four years, when he was, in essence, a wayward and confused young child.<p>

Truthfully, to Naruto, the sudden connection hadn't been strange _at all_, or even out of place—it was simply...disorienting. But it was just so _right_. The first tingle of the openness that the forests had offered to him and everything had just clicked in place.

He had discovered his new talent with the earth on the fourth anniversary of the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha—in other words, his birthday—and the villagers' grievings were still freshly etched upon their hearts while their hatred towards the small container was more potent than ever. The glares, the cold voices, coveted whispers—Naruto would have been lying if he had boasted that he did not see any of this. So before he could lose his control on the tight lid that he kept on his emotions, before another damn _bastard_ could shoot him a glare, Naruto had taken to the forests where no one else would have been.

And it had been the right decision, because the second he stepped into the intricate networks of trees and grass, a sudden feeling of home overcame him. The birds harmonized together, weaving their reassuring serenades. The lazy buzz of the insects, soft rustling of bushes as the small animals and the large moved about, and the breeze curling softly among the leaves...the sounds were heavenly music upon his ears. A perfect painting illustrated itself as the sun reflected itself against the water droplets lingering on oily green leaves, gifts from a previous drizzle.

Naruto had never felt so, so— _welcomed._

The surroundings had accepted his presence; likewise, the animals welcomed him too. A few squirrels and a deer, among many other creatures, milled around the small boy of sunshine as he sat down in the grass while gazing curiously at everything, listening, watching, breathing in the scene itself. Every intake of breath was a breath of nature, and the very thought of what he was experiencing left little else to be desired. The home, the family, and the love that he had always wanted, it was all right here, right now, along with nature and all her beauty.

A short bubble of juvenescent laughter arose as Naruto loped a short, stubby arm around the deer's neck and petted the rabbits and squirrels. He tried to imitate the chirps of the birds and failed miserably, but no matter—he was happy and content.

And under the supervision of the sunshine and the splendor of life around him, he fell asleep in an undisturbed nap.

After that, Naruto came to visit the forests every day.

* * *

><p>But of course, such an ideal life couldn't possibly remain for very long, given Naruto's chaotic style.<p>

After around a month of spending time alone with nature, Naruto began to hear voices. They were soft and hushed—caring, of course—but strangely distant and just slightly haunting. At first, the voices hadn't bothered him, despite startling him a great deal. However, gradually, the murmurs in his head grew more frequent. Half the time, Naruto didn't understand what they were talking about, but he did understand the pain. Soon enough, at his desperately young age, Naruto felt the same pain that jounins and kages felt—the acute sense of loss and a horrible grief for all that had been snatched from their grasps.

Naruto, being as young as he was, did not fully grasp these emotions and only understood the constant ache of emptiness in his chest. He wandered aimlessly, eyes cast down, pondering all these things. It was no longer the villagers that had caused him so much hurt.

Or rather, it was this new type of pain that made the civilians' taunts all the worse.

Two months later, Naruto at last understood that this constant agony was the pain of all those that the animals had previously encountered in their aimless wanderings throughout the forests of Konoha. Except, even holding that knowledge had eased his pain no better. The weight of tens upon hundreds of anguished ninjas was pushing down his heart, and every day, it got heavier.

The upside was that it _did _get better eventually. Though the haunted look never left his clear blue eyes, he learned to deal with the pain through a new interesting something, someone— _Sasuke_.

The boy was always wandering around from place to place, a smile on his face, but an air of seriousness was there too. Once, Naruto had come upon the boy while he was training and Naruto had all but watched in fascination while the shuriken whizzed through the air and the kunai pierced all the accurate positions. Surely, Naruto had thought to himself, this boy was a genius. And the aura around him was so _warm_ and _soothing_. (After being around the callings of nature for so long, he could feel certain auras around people, though Naruto didn't understand why.)

But then his nii-san would come along and the whole illusion would be broken because his aura was so suffocating and repressed and Naruto would choke up like he couldn't breathe and it overwhelmed him and, and—

Nothing. And nothing. The feeling of helplessness would swamp his every sense as he watched the boy and his nii-san walk away together, and Naruto would be alone again before he rejoined the animals. A few days later, the smiling boy would always be back along with the promise of his brother being there too in a few hours.

Yet as he sat in the trees and watched the two leave together, Naruto would always see the older one look back in Naruto's direction with a light smile and a kind heart, so unlike the waves of bitterness around him. Naruto had a fleeting suspicion that the older boy was smiling at Naruto, but he couldn't be sure because those eyes, dull, pained, and broken, carried the same anguish as Naruto's heart did and always pitched his own heart into his throat.

* * *

><p>After a few more weeks of this, Naruto finally made a point to the animals that he wanted training too, and thus began instruction on how to manipulate different things. On the first day, after being guided in lighting a small fire by a brook and a few mounds of damp soil, he sat down and closed his eyes before concentrating on everything around him.<p>

Naruto didn't feel anything.

The only small tugs that he had felt in his gut were the way that the water in the stream pushed along in a single direction, how the small flames licked the air and leaned towards one side as if trying to escape its small boundaries, and how particles of the soil would suddenly shake loose and gust off into a separate area. The day had ended with no coherent result and the next few days were always the same. It was always the way those things acted, never the actual elements themselves.

Luckily for Naruto, heavy and grey clouds rolled across the horizon, nearer and nearer to the village, until a thunderstorm was sure to happen.

Wearing his usual attire, orange pants and an oversized, paint-splattered white shirt emblazoned with a swirl and a flame insignia, he stepped out into the wind and lightning and focused.

But once again, there was no attraction. The electric charges in the air made his hairs stand on end, but it frightened him. Other than that, nothing really happened.

Except then, the wind came. It whipped around the small boy wildly, rushing through his blonde hair and flapping at the loose clothing relentlessly, yet strangely, to Naruto, they were like warm, soft caresses instead of cold slaps to his skin. And then he _felt _that connection again, the feeling of _home_. Just when the animals' voices in his head were just beginning to die away disappointingly, they came back in soft interested murmurs, attention captured again.

In all honesty, the animals never even gave a thought to the possibility of a wind affinity, so this surprised them. It made sense, however, because the boy had felt the movements of the water, fire, and earth—all of them moving because of the soft wind. And the boy himself had felt a certain calling towards the thunderstorm—the animals would never have thought to bring him out into such cold. After all, it seemed that the wind soothed him.

Except then, Naruto sneezed and all enchantments were broken. The animals quickly ushered him back to his home with an order to rest and a promise of wind training in three days time. Knowing Naruto, however, the _gaki_ would most likely stick his head out the window and breathe in the wind as soon as he got home.

Not that the animals really minded, of course.

So then, by the time the third day was up, Naruto was up and ready to take on any training that the birds threw at him.

He soon realized his mistake after stumbling around trying to get the tumultuous jumble of birdsong out of his head. After hours and hours of near-deafness, when Naruto finally emerged from torture with a bird perched on his shoulder and another resting in his nest of blonde hair, he could transmit his voice miles and miles to other humans or creatures by simply dispatching a bird with his thoughts contained. Of course, other creatures were his only current choice, given his social ineptitude.

Days later, he found that he could befriend every animal he came upon within moments.

Weeks after that, it was discovered that any creature would willingly cooperate with him.

Life and training went on like this for months and months as he learned more new things and collaboration techniques.

—but he still couldn't throw a kunai.

* * *

><p>The very second that Naruto stepped into the Academy, he knew that he had found his second home. People still glared and ignored him, but the Academy was still great because there were children, <em>people<em>, his age and after an entire two years of being surrounded by only animals and four years of absolute solitude before that, people were the one thing that he needed. And Sasuke was there, prodigious skill, smile, cheerful eyes and everything. That made it even better.

But then he would always be clueless as to what the sensei was talking about, and when he'd ask for a more careful elaboration, the sensei would sneer and ignore him, and then the whole class would laugh. Except for Sasuke. Sasuke would look at Naruto with innocent eyes and that was the end of that.

The glares and snide remarks never came to an end, though. Every day, when the parents came to pick up their children, they'd give him a menacing glance that conveyed all the hatred they felt and _more_, then look at their child and say in a purposefully loud whisper, "Stay away from him, he's dangerous" and that was more than enough to hurt Naruto more than was possibly imaginable. It hurt even more than the already hollow emptiness from his "shinobi experience" lessons.

It wasn't too long before the only things that kept Naruto at the Academy were Sasuke and the calls of nature coming through the open window he sat next to.

Time went on and he finally learned to throw kunai and shuriken, though not as well as most others in the class but his doom truly fell upon him when it came time to learn the bunshin. He was utterly _hopeless._ When Naruto had not failed to create _something_, the something that he _did _create was a colorless, crumpled heap of uselessness that bore zero resemblance to the original caster. And then there was Sasuke with his perfect and identical clone and perfectly aimed shuriken and it was just too _perfect_.

But the Uchiha would give him a nice smile every time he tried—not condescending, not pitying, but nice. That alone could brighten Naruto's day up a lot more and made it more difficult for him to hate Sasuke. (Not that he _wanted _to, but it would be nice to have a more negative friendly relationship.)

Then one day, he came to class and found the window _closed._

Not just closed, but rather bolted, locked, and covered with a sickeningly green piece of cloth that in all honesty, looked like the color of puke to Naruto. (Of course, he was still a biased young child but that didn't eliminate his incensed hatred for the blinds.) In a sudden swell of indignation, Naruto piped up about the window and _begged _for it to be opened, but then he was accused of wanting the window open so he could escape and ruin the village again and that—

—that made him _snap_.

The whole class felt disheveled after the sudden _large _wave of ominous energy rolled off the blonde and also absolutely confused, because even if the Uzumaki was a demon, surely the teacher had crossed the line? No one was sure, but they sure as hell forgot about the incident barely ten minutes after the Uzumaki boy was tossed ungraciously out of the Academy doors into the dirt.

Except all of them remembered him insisting on something along the lines of "But the wind is my _friend," _and no one thought to affirm his mental stability after that. The people threw annoying jibes at Naruto and teased him even more, calling him "bird boy" and "breezy freak". Except for Sasuke. Because Sasuke was just that nice.

* * *

><p>But then the Uchiha hit the age of seven and the clan's demise was met soon after.<p>

Naruto had spent his days in the forest, dazzled and soothed by the warmth of the Uchiha's aura, but at last, the day came when the kunai hit the trees too hard and the shuriken followed suit seconds later as the bark splintered and flew off the trees, and Naruto _shivered._

In the forest, where all was calm and familial, Naruto never _shivered_. Yet, here was the very same Uchiha, the very same Sasuke. In form perhaps, but as Naruto came to realize in the next few days, not entirely in essence. Around Sasuke, he felt shivery cold and rejected, in the presence of an absolute stranger to what the boy was barely a week ago.

And then they had to spar with each other at the Academy. Needless to say, it had gone down horribly. Pinned down within seconds and faced with those eyes, those _haunted eyes_, the eyes that no seven-year-old should have, and so _near_ that cold and bitter aura. In the hot weather when all should have been sweaty and warm, Naruto was cold. And the cold stayed there.

So, after school, he took off to the woods again and once he was there, a croaky and frog-like voice immediately inserted itself into Naruto consciousness and said: "My lords, you are a mess, _gaki_." Then it proposed some new training and told him to sit down and stay still. It was tingly at first but after a while, all the calls of the forest were more enhanced and clearer than ever, and the auras of every being were sharper than it usually was. A new strength and clarity coursed through him—but it was gone in a flash because the remnants of the intense frostiness still lingered in his blood and clarity made the chill all the worse.

After a few more tries at doing this, the toady voice in his brain sighed with a "Maybe next time, _gaki"_ and popped out. Naruto sprawled himself out on the grass and echoed the sigh. Curled up into a ball with only a hare to keep him company, he fell asleep in the warm grass under the glowing sun, shivering to his very core.

—Sasuke came to train even more frequently than ever and haunted the area with cold. His nii-san never came to pick him up anymore, and Naruto tried not to think about it.

That was, in the span of the _longest _week ever, how Naruto came to be what he was before—alone, in pain, and cold.

—the cold was taking over every bit of his body but no one cared anymore.  
><em>—Maybe no one ever did.<em>

* * *

><p>Something as great as the forest was something that Naruto clearly knew was not permanent. When arriving at his usual rendezvous point in the woods, he found the place blocked off by a ring of ANBU and a few jounin, and while he was thoroughly confused and about to demand entry to the area, one ANBU shifted and he caught sight of so much <em>red<em>, and then the red morphed into the coat of the old man Hokage, and it came to a stop in front of Naruto.

Having been fully aware of the skills required to become a kage, Naruto had not eliminated the factor of the Hokage possibly knowing his constant visits to the forest. Surely, _jiji_ must have came by his apartment one day and found the small boy not there. (_Dear lord_, Naruto prayed silently, that the _jiji _would absolutely not take the only comfort away from him.)  
>—(As far as he was concerned, the woods were his only friend.)<p>

Surprisingly, the _jiji_ had only smiled and waved Naruto off with a "don't come here for the rest of the day" and after seeing so much red, Naruto did not need further convincing. So Naruto rushed off without a second word and spent the next few hours in absolute solitude with only the wind blowing softly through his window, deep in thought about Sasuke, those _eyes_, the villagers' glares…  
><em>—No<em>—he told himself—I _cannot _think about that.

So Naruto focused on the warm breeze instead.

Half an hour after that, the _jiji_ drifted into Naruto's open door and sat next to him on the bed.

Hiruzen was surprised to see Naruto so calm and quiet—the Naruto he remembered was loud and rambunctious, never still and silent. Upon closer inspection, the boy was mentally drowning in melancholy, and honestly, that frightened Hiruzen a bit. Over half a century of service as a shinobi, and a little boy's emotions managed to frighten him.

A sudden and high-pitched trill rang out, and he finally spotted (how did he not notice it before?) the small canary resting on the child's forehead. Surprisingly, the bird was pointing its gaze down at Naruto before flicking it up at the Hokage and looking back again. Even more surprisingly, Naruto _responded_, like _actually responded_, with a smile and a trusting wink of his blue eyes. At his response, the bird relaxed (birds could _tense?_) and resumed its pecking at the boy's hair.

Some creepy collaboration was going on between him and the bird, and Naruto was _aware _of it.

Dear god.

Naruto sat up and the bird flew onto his shoulder (why didn't the animal fly away? Why did it _trust _a human so much?) and then he looked at Hiruzen with those eyes. Dear lord, his eyes. A hitch of air caught in his throat as he stared at the boy. Hiruzen was completely accustomed to this gaze, but the problem was that _that_ type of eyes was _not _supposed to belong to a nine-year-old. Except right now, staring into the endless blue pools of a child, Hiruzen saw the very same anguish he saw in almost every full-fledged shinobi he'd ever encountered.

It was _haunting_.

Ghosts of pain, and a lost sense of direction. This was not good.

"Perhaps the wind is too cold," he had said as he rose to shut the windows, and Naruto, without his normal impulse of action, had replied with a sincere "the wind keeps me warm". _What?_ the _jiji_ had thought, because the drafts floating in were very _cold_—even for him—and then he closed the windows anyway which immediately elicited a tremble in the boy, whose eyes widened, and the horrors reflected in the blue grew all the worse and all the more visible.

Hiruzen walked back to Naruto and set himself down next to the boy _very _gently. Then Naruto looked at him with that _pain_ and that effectively ran another shudder down the _jiji_'s spine. "_Don't take my forest away from me_" he had whispered, frightened, so without thinking much, Hiruzen agreed to let him go back under the condition that he would retreat were there to be any suspicious movement, and in that moment, Naruto looked so _happy_, that the _jiji_ could not help but smile back.

Later, when he was back in his office, Hiruzen realized that he didn't really worry at all that he couldn't be sure exactly how Naruto would be able to detect any intruders, or that he didn't question the eerily close bond Naruto had with the bird or the cold that had seized Naruto immediately in the absence of wind. Because underneath the layers of agony and loss, he found something else.

_Another young one has inherited the Will of Fire._

—and really, that was a sufficient answer to all his worries about the blonde. Plus, now that he thought about it, those eyes _couldn't _have been him. The more he thought about, the more it became clear that it really _wasn't_ him. Perhaps it was simply the effects of being around animals. Creatures of the forest did survive on the killing of one another to survive, after all.

—After that day, he'd get an occasional bird flying into his window and thoughts were transmitted into his consciousness about some intruder or troublesome thing by the borders. He suspected this was Naruto's work but did not question it. Hiruzen figured that it would be better for his own mental health.

* * *

><p>Fuuton came to him easier than Suiton, and Suiton came easier than Doton. Raiton was effectively impossible and Katon...well. Naruto didn't even want to think about it. Marks from several bad burns (almost healed) still traveled along the entire length of his left side and stung every time he stretched too much.<p>

The first time he tried lightning, all that had happened was a painful and jolting shock running up his arm.

Earth, on the other hand, moved to his will and Naruto found that he was pretty good at manipulating the stuff into hardened rods that could pierce even a tree.

Water got even better, because he could add the wet stuff into the earth and make gigantic landslides that could crush entire armies. (Of course, for right now he could only manage small ones as wide as him and shorter.)

Then came wind. Oh, _wind_. It bent to his every will and it could gust against things in torrents, knocking down _everything_, or he could use them as blades, making the most precise incisions or even slicing through a tree with the neatest cut _ever_. Then he added the wind to water, and then the tempest to the mud and the ten-year-old had effectively created a new attack that could trample any chuunin.

To say that the effects were _cool _just did not do the move justice.

After six months of perfecting that and developing other new ones, Naruto realized that he had to give the technique name, because now he could correlate the elements in seconds after performing the moves successively.

In the end, Naruto settled with a category name—Nature Release. (A made up name for three natures used in quick succession, Naruto realized—not exactly a kekkei touta, but misleading the adversary is always a great benefit.)

By the time he had almost reached eleven years, Naruto had seven wind techniques, six water, and four earth, along with at least one technique for each combination. In essence, he had one lightning also— if sending a small jolt into a person counted. A second's paralysis could be useful, so he counted that too.

Then there was fire and—

—Naruto still preferred not to think about it.

* * *

><p>Autumn was always his favorite season. Winter was too cold, summer was too hot, spring was too groggy, and then there was autumn. The animals would be busying themselves in preparation for winter and that motivated Naruto to get busy too. In all essence, it was a time to work hard and strive to be better, and that made Naruto all the more determined.<p>

It was _lonely _during the winter, when the snows settled and only freezing gales and an occasional deer would accompany him. (The _shika_ were more prone to staying in their designated fields on Nara grounds, anyway.) The spring came with all the animals waking up and everything was lazy around then, and as much as Naruto loved the scents of nature, over-abundance of flower pollen never helped. Summer was just too lax, and Naruto didn't like that either.

So, autumn it was. Plus, there were chrysanthemums in the autumn and they were simply beautiful. Chrysanthemums were better than cherry or plum blossoms, in his opinion, because they were _yellow_, and yellow was such a sunny and optimistic color that no one could just _not _like chrysanthemums. The petals were numerous too, and that added a certain feel that Naruto could not really explain. And then there was an old dream that he had years ago.

On a night when he was five, Naruto remembered crashing into his uncomfortable bed, bruised and battered and _cold_ from the annual Festival of the Tenth, and then drifting off uneasily into sleep. Naruto woke up to a warm and oddly distant feeling, accompanied with nostalgia and a blurred image of a blonde man patting his head and saying "_the chrysanthemums bloom when the leaves turn red_" before smiling and dissipating into a soft breeze. Naruto hadn't thought much of the man, or anything else in the dream—his phrase was all that mattered to him.

Of course, he had reasons to hate autumn also.

His birthday was the very bane of his existence and his birthday was made even worse by the Festival of the Tenth. It wasn't a _festival_, exactly, but more of a funeral procession throughout all of Konoha to honor the shinobi and civilians that had died on that day. Not only was his birthday cursed for the bringing about of a _bakemono_, it was cursed because apparently, he was the very _bakemono_ to have caused all of these deaths. And that hurt.

It _really _fucking _hurt_.

But Naruto didn't go and despise autumn because of the stupid treatment. He didn't crumble at all the hate—

—he let it make him stronger.

Hard work was great, chrysanthemums were great, motivating dreams were better, and the villagers maybe were _not_ so great but their hate spurred him forward so it was still great. Autumn was great.

(_The ninth moon's flower festivals were so grand back in the Shodai's reign, child._)  
>(<em>I'm sure they were.<em>)

* * *

><p>Naruto had never thought that orange rings around his eyes could make him so happy. In his sleep, he wandered in a paradise of waterfalls and insects strumming their glorious music complete with high plateaus and a strange <em>elegance<em>. There were frogs everywhere and they looked up to him, which was odd, because Naruto had never thought he'd be king of _frogs_.

These murmurs were present in his mindscape since he was eight, but he'd never really paid attention to them until now. So he got out of bed, and with a sudden spur of inspiration, Naruto was headed straight for his normal spot.

_Red_.

That was the very first thing to meet his eyes, and then he _froze_.

_How could I freeze? Why? __**Why? **_And so he stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide, immobile, _paralyzed _by the simple sight of blood. **_Why?! _**he had screamed at himself, and with a sudden burst of need to help, to just help these crazy people that were bleeding to their deaths and to _hurt _the rogues that were about to kill them.

_Wait, _he stopped. _Hurt?_ And then he moved forward with the wind helping him and somehow, _somehow_, he knew that inflicting injury was not the right thing. The two rogues were laughing by now, laughing at the ridiculous _gaki_ dressed in pajamas and looking as petite as a girl. So in just a few seconds, he had brought forth a considerable sized wind current that slammed the two missing-nin into tree trunks, effectively knocking the light out of their eyes, rendering them momentarily unconscious.

Naruto then stood there and wondered _what the hell had gotten into him_ before remembering the two bleeding chuunin on the mud floor. Then he didn't really know quite what to do with them before three jounin quickly came into view. They gave the _gaki_ blank looks before one of them slung the two injured over each of his shoulders. And the other two each took one of the missing-nin into chakra bindings.

One glance at the swirling tornado around Naruto and the leader didn't question himself twice before motioning for the boy to follow after also.

That's how Naruto came to stand in the Hokage's office after all business with the missing-nin had been cleared.

"You caught them, but you didn't hurt them."

"Yes."

"And it was sudden impulse to jump in and fight despite being lower than genin."

"Yes."

"You have good techniques and a unique skill, boy." Hiruzen had slowly dipped his quill into the ink bottle and then had begun to write something on the crinkled sheet of paper. "Practice them more."

"Yes."

"Keep them secret." The _jiji_ then bent his head over the paper once more, signaling an end to the conversation.

Naruto had dipped his head and ran back out, all the way from the Hokage's doors to the entrance to his tower and through the village back to the woods. Plopping down next to the small stream where he frequently presided, Naruto got into position and closed his eyes. Senses successfully heightened and _staying _heightened, Naruto took one look at the river to see a new empowered self.

He'd attacked some missing-nin, refused to hurt them, gotten strangely used to blood, and basically helped out in a B-rank mission, then was given permission to continue secret training without much prying, and then he'd mastered some strange orange eyeshadow thing that apparently gave him a bunch of power.

All in all, it was a pretty good day.

* * *

><p><em>There was a boy that was four when his callings had first began to sing.<em>


	2. Of Flames and Trails of Ash

Ah, so I'm quite...shocked by the reception. I mean, really, I expected this to be untouched. Thank you, to anyone who bothered to touch this at all.

If you haven't really deduced yet, then this story is going to be split into arcs. Sentinels of a Childhood Long Past focuses on the things that created what he is...later in the story.

This is kinda AU Canonverse, because I'm altering small things other than the already obvious large changes. And note that this is kind of like another Japan, so seasons and "color changes" (as you'll see below) will not take place in the exact times that they actually do in the Japan that we know. I'm still retaining some traditions though, like the Five Sacred Festivals of ancient Japan.

* * *

><p>{sentinels of a childhood long past}<br>of flame and trails of ash

* * *

><p>Holding a hitai-ate in his hands seemed so unreal, simply a dream to him just two weeks ago, and now he was standing in the sunlight-flooded forest, back ramrod straight in blatant disbelief of the events that had just unfolded right before him. But, they <em>had<em> happened. And that was amazing.

He hadn't passed the written portion of the exams for all his hopelessness in paying attention to lectures, and he hadn't passed the practical portion either because only the gods knew why he was still beyond recall at making a bunshin.

So, it was quite a miracle to be holding a hitai-ate right now with no strings attached—Naruto even pinched himself a few times just to make sure that he really wasn't dreaming on the whole thing.

Quite frankly, Iruka had to pinch himself too, because he had just seen a mere Academy student—and not just _any _Academy student, but _Uzumaki Naruto_, the dead last, the braindead loser, idiot of the village, but he knows he's digressing as the list continues so Iruka returns to his original point—perform what seemed like an A-rank technique that was _created_ by Naruto himself, since he's never seen something of that sort in Konoha, and where else could he have learned it from? Not exactly everyone was whipping wind and liquid earth around so easily.

It was truly fantastic, really, because here was a boy with little to no chakra control, not nearly enough to even make a simple bunshin, the same boy who had vandalized practically every single building in the village, and the same who was bad at everything except for eating ramen and pranking. (What if this were an entire prank right now? Iruka had thought, but he shoved that evil thought aside immediately.) But this was also the same boy that the Sandaime had personally pulled him aside for, just to tell Iruka that there was more than meets the eye to him, the _gaki_ and all of his immature tricks. _Power? _Iruka had asked, but the Sandaime had only smiled and walked off with a shake of his head.

The boy had surpassed all expectations, and he felt an enormous surge of pride in him, because Naruto was going to become a great shinobi someday, a shinobi molded into shape by experience and the fierce determination that Naruto already possessed.

The Will of Fire was a truly amazing thing, Iruka marveled as he carried a tired and sleepy Naruto back into the village. The other chuunin would laugh at him and make annoying jibes at him for promoting a kid as "hopeless" as Naruto, but really, Iruka could not care less right now. The air and forests around him seemed even more like home than ever with Naruto here—birds sang clearly, leaves danced freely, and the fire burned brighter than ever before. He was injured, tired, and high on jubilance, so really, nothing that could happen right now would bother him at all. Life was peaceful for the time, and he had learned to enjoy it.

* * *

><p>Imagine everyone's horror to find the <em>bakemono<em> sitting in the same room as the other genin when he had evidently failed the exam. Sakura walked into the room and was _horrified_ to find that irritating _germ_ sitting near _her_ Sasuke.

"Hey, _baka_, move! I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" The weirdo gave her an affronted glance, but moved aside before Sakura could lash out. With an upturn of her nose, she slid into the seat, completely ignoring the germ that her parents had warned to stay away from countless times.

Then it got her—why was he here in the first place?

There were whispers in the back of the room, and though she only caught a few, it was enough to tell her that he had somehow passed on special circumstances, and really, that did _not _make her happy at all. Why should _he_, of all people, be allowed to receive special treatment when special treatment was so abhorred in this village?

Well. He was never one to follow the rules anyway.

So, Sakura proceeded to charm Sasuke-kun and that...that _thing_ just suddenly jumped up and— and got right— got right into his _face_. Mr prince! Sakura was thinking, _Cha, this baka needs to learn how to treat people better than him!_

Then, some kid pushed him, and...well…

Sakura used the rest of the hour to erase that image _from _her mind.

_Permanently_.

* * *

><p>Kakashi was expecting to fail this team too, and his suspicions were even further supported by the behavior he had observed from his peephole in the 'nindo' sign on the classroom wall. Honestly, this team had even less hope than their predecessors.<p>

Reluctant and completely uninspired to carry through with his job, Kakashi traipsed down to the memorial stone, and before he knew it, it was time to go collect his "team", if one could even call them a _team._ _Two more hours_, Kakashi decided, but then remembered that specific gleam in the two boys' eyes. Both horrified, but the blonde one had looked considerably misted over. Then the fangirl..._dear god_…

Three ticking time bombs, jammed into a compact arrangement, and expected to work together _with_ a messy convolution of kiddy crushes? Not fun at all.

Suddenly, his job just got a lot harder.

So, Kakashi resigned himself to one hour, and by the time the one hour was up, he found himself getting walloped in the head with an eraser. Powder in his already pale hair, he cheerily informed the three of his dislike for them, much to their groans of protest and indignant shouts.

At least the dislike was mutual.

* * *

><p>"Likes, dislikes, any hobbies, dreams possibly." Kakashi did realize that he possibly needed more questions to ask next year, but these usually did the trick, so he went with it. "You first, blondie."<p>

The Uzumaki kid stared at him curiously upon being addressed like this. There was wonder and a warm glow of happiness on his face, making the question that Kakashi knew he had wanted to ask back painfully obvious. _Why aren't you calling me bakemono?_ was what Uzumaki had probably wanted to ask. Dear lord, the kid looked like his father. Kakashi could sense himself relaxing under this kid's scrutiny—a strange, platonic affection had come over when he realized— _Hey, I actually want to protect this kid_.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" the kid yelled, and the spell was momentarily broken as Kakashi shifted slightly in anticipation of the kid's answer. "I like ramen! I dislike the three minutes it takes to cook and really mean people. Hobbies? Eh...training, you know? And in the future?" The kid grinned widely before finishing with a loud, "I'm gonna be the Hokage! The best one ever." The kid looked so euphoric, it was making Kakashi itchy from the positive vibes. Sakura gave the boy a demeaning glare and Sasuke snorted. Then, all euphoria momentarily fell as he looked down at the ground where a few leaves were settling.

"And...I like nature. And the wind. I also dislike...hatred. It—it ruins people, you know?" Kakashi could see the seriousness in his eyes and just how well the boy understood hatred, and really, that hurt. It did, because here was a boy of 12, not exactly a shinobi, talking about the negative force as if it had accompanied him his whole life, and considering his position as a jinchuuriki, it probably has. Sasuke bristled on the sidelines, and Naruto's eyes glazed in sudden fear as he looked back down at his feet and moved his hand to rest over his heart, as if trying to ward off some unseen force.

But it had all passed in a millisecond and only the most observant person could have seen what had just happened. Kakashi knew full just what hatred could do to people, and he had a long list of completed missions that had stemmed from people hating one another to remind him. So, to ease the tension, Kakashi moved on to the next person in line.

As expected, the pink-head was absolutely infatuated with the Uchiha and probably did not care much for becoming a shinobi at all. Disappointing, really—the girl's intelligence was a gift.

"What I like…hm…" a glance at Uchiha, then, "My goals...hmm…" another glance and a blush directed at Uchiha, then "What I dislike…" The girl's high voice descended to a low growl as she bit out "Na-ru-to", punctuating each syllable distastefully. Uzumaki's bright smile faltered a little as some of the earlier sadness seeped into the blue of his eyes again.

A fangirl of one teammate, and a hater of the other—this bunch displayed less and less compatibility with each second. Disappointed, Kakashi moved his attention to the last person.

...and he was let down once more.

_I'm sorry I might not pass your son, Sensei_, he had thought to himself as he took the long route back to the Jounin Standby Station, because honestly, he _was_ sorry, because this kid had potential and so did the other two, but there was nothing he could do to unlock them until he was actually their sensei.

But this kid seemed volatile enough—maybe he'd surprise him.  
>—In fact, he had no doubts that he would.<p>

* * *

><p>Two bells jingled merrily in his hand from red strings. (Threads of fate, Kushina would have called them. In fact, Kakashi was quite certain that Minato had taken two strands of her hair and weaved them in.) Sakura, intelligent as he knew she was, had immediately pointed out the fact that only one would pass the test. Kakashi was mildly pleased, both at the fact that she had discovered the "meaning of the test" (as far as they could see, anyway) and had <em>not <em>discovered the only _true _purpose of the test.

"Precisely", he had said, and after delivering the remaining rules, the three scattered. Or, well, two.

Naruto stood right where he had been, crossing his arms and assessing him carefully, and with those blue eyes, that spiky yellow hair and careful stance, Kakashi's resolve failed. Because for a fleeting moment, for the second time in that same day, Kakashi had felt his own sensei staring back at him, and that sent him back to the pit of grief he could never escape, _again_.

Shaking himself out of the self-cast illusion, he faced the boy with a smile and jingled the bells on his hip with his hand tauntingly. Without any further thought, the boy raised his hands to form a sign and—

_KAGE-BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!_ and really, Kakashi was slightly taken aback. The kage-bunshin wasn't a trick that the Academy taught to students. Kakashi himself had not learned it until a year after he'd graduated. That didn't matter though, because the blondie still hadn't caught the concept of teamwork. A few kicks and turns, and soon, all the clones were popped, and only one figure remained standing. The boy charged at him with a sudden burst of speed, and in seconds, Kakashi had him pinned down in the dirt, clouds of dust billowing around them.

"Rule number one, never charge dir—" Kakashi had begun, but then the boy smiled, and popped. _A clone?_ Kakashi was absolutely delighted and also disappointed at being thwarted by a clone. Where the real one was, he couldn't know, so Kakashi grabbed his book, and waited for the next victim to come out. May as well, he decided, because they weren't about to catch him off guard anytime soon.

* * *

><p>Naruto, slumped over in a pile of leaves, did not understand what this strange man was getting at. What <em>was <em>he getting at? The man certainly didn't expect any of them to get the bells successfully—really, a jounin? What were his chances? Even the guy didn't try (and he wasn't), Naruto wouldn't be able to get a bell. Was he intentionally trying to fail them?

Riled up and resigned to a fail, Naruto slumped down against a tree. He took a heavy sigh and tried to think, but no sufficient plan would come to him, so he closed his eyes and meandered himself through his surroundings subconsciously.

A light tap on his head, and Naruto jolted up, fearing that their 'sensei' had caught his actual hiding place after the clones had all been disseminated. Except...there was no human presence anywhere near him. Sasuke and Sakura were off on the other side of the clearing and the man was still sitting in the middle of the field, that cocky bastard.

A leaf, a _red _leaf, fluttered down from his hair to meet his hand, an anomaly among its green siblings. The color change was early this year. The seventh moon had just shown, and the first color change of the seasonal year usually occurred near eigth. At long last, autumn was emerging out of the dwindling summer, a time of work coming out of the season of laid-back rest. Summers in Konoha were always strangely short, anyway.

A trail of ants emerged from the bushes and then split into two paths, one leading to another bush and the other leading to...a stag beetle. The trail to the beetle suddenly formed itself into a blob and lunged at the beetle. The stag beetle clicked its pincers, but that did deter the ants, who swarmed the beetle at once. A thought occurred to Naruto as he watched the stag beetle squirm under the tiny insects' wrath.

_What if the bastard doesn't **want **us to defeat him individually?_ because _none_ of them could individually defeat _him_. Naruto threw a hand up to his mouth to restrain himself from audibly gasping as inspiration struck him. One ant against one beetle would surely lose, but together…? _Maybe this will work_.

Naruto raised two fingers to his lips, ready to perform his signature summoning whistle, while envisioning the flabbergasted looks of awe that Hatake would have on his face when they got the bells.

_Watch me, world. I'm going to prove myself, because this can work, and this _**will** work.  
><strong>—Just watch me.<strong>

* * *

><p>Sasuke was getting really annoyed by now, because not only was Sakura whimpering like an underdeveloped pup by his side and <em>totally<em> giving away their position, the _dobe_, the insufferable idiot, had disappeared to nowhere after the last clone had popped. Sure, it was clever and all, but did that gain them a bell? Or _anything_? No.

_Cut it out, Uchiha. This is no time to be a drama queen._ Sasuke curled his lips distastefully because he had a reputation to maintain and this was _not_ the time to go bitching on everything. So, he turned his attention to the jounin instead. Hatake was still sitting on a tree stump reading that ridiculous book of his, but his whole body was unnaturally still. It's not like he really needed to, Sasuke realized, but it was a way to let them know if he was on guard or not, and it was part of his test too, to see if they could pick up on the subtly dropped hint.

Or so he hoped, because this guy did not seem to be relaxing anytime soon.

Sasuke had contemplated throwing the prepared shuriken in his hands, just to see if he could get a rise out of the jounin, but logic and sensibility told him no; he couldn't afford to waste any weapons on hand. He spared Sakura another glance, just to see how the girl was doing, and honestly, she was holding herself together quite well, despite being frightened as a kitten.

Sasuke jerked his hand up, ready to throw the shuriken, thinking _I hate this_ just when a bird landed on his shoulder. 'What the hell' was what he wanted to yell because he was _not _a _fucking tree branch_, but he decided better of it and looked right to Sakura, who had stopped her pathetic sniffling and was staring in shock at the identical canary on her shoulder. The birds simultaneously bent their heads down, and at once, their thoughts all connected.

At this point, Sasuke really wanted to curse because this was going too far if the jounin had done this, but then it dawned on him that Sakura was thinking _the same thing_, and how in the world would he have known that if he couldn't hear her thoughts? Except—he _could_. One look at Sakura and he knew that the same held true for her. They looked at the birds perched upon their shoulders with wide, expectant eyes and another stream of thoughts flowed into their own.

_Look, the point of this exercise isn't beating him—god help us if it was. Teamwork's the goal here, so we gotta work together, you know?_

Sasuke almost leapt out of the bushes in surprise, because why was, this, this _voice_ in his head? He knew whose it was but since when could he perform a jutsu as perfect as this one? Communication within the thoughts, aiming for a better unity among team members in a battle, with no flaw, because he was as aware of his surroundings as always and this tapping into the subconscious had not affected that awareness at all. Surely, this couldn't— this couldn't be the doing of—

_Naruto? _he tried tentatively, and sure enough, his own thoughts echoed into the mind chamber, projecting itself into seemingly, all three of their minds. Sakura's voice echoed the sentiment, though in an arguably more vulgar fashion.

_Get a hold of yourselves! We need to work together to get those bells. Actually, damn those bells, he just needs to see us work together! We need to pull our shit together and work like a team. Sakura, you take his left and I'll take his right. I'm on the other side of the clearing. Sasuke, when he's distracted with us, hit him with your fireball thingy and I'll throw something in too._

_Wait, how do you know about my fireb—_

_Shut up and get on with it while he's still there! The birds will remain on the borders but our thoughts will still be connected as long as I still have them under my command._

_How will you add something into the mix if I don't know what you're doi—_

_Nevermind that! Sakura, you haven't said anything, so you understand, right?_

_Y- yes._

_Kay, for Team 7, alright? Let's go! _Sasuke, still under shock, agreed quickly, though he still couldn't fathom how the _hell_ his stupid teammate had managed something like this except there _was _no time to think. Sasuke had no choice but to follow, seeing as it probably was the best plan. He looked to Sakura reluctantly, who nodded back at him meekly. God _damn _it, Sasuke could feel the dobe's insufferable smile from all the way across from Naruto's position.

_Let's go._

So from the bushes, Sasuke focused on accumulating his chakra into his chest and Naruto and Sakura leapt out into the clearing from their respective sides. Sasuke could see the jounin's eye crack open a little, his mouth give a slight 'oh?' of amusement. In the process of dealing with Kakashi, Naruto was avoiding getting hit anywhere, and so was Sakura, but they both tried their best to keep Kakashi's attention away from anywhere else except for them. But then, the jounin managed to get the dobe who only avoided completely crashing into the ground with a slam of his hands into the ground beneath him. Sasuke wanted to curse. The shock that must have traveled up Naruto's arms would make his arms effectively useless for the next minute or so, and it wasn't like that hit was very hard to dodge anyway. Sure enough, Naruto operated with only kicks from then. At last, the jounin stumbled a little when Naruto gave a surprise lash in the back of his legs that Kakashi had only managed to avoid in the final second.

_Now_, Naruto's voice echoed into his thoughts, and without further thought, he jumped from his hiding and released all of the chakra he had gathered into his lungs, and—

"_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"_

Sasuke was taken aback at hearing a yell end at the same he had released the fireball, and a sense of failure crashed down on him as he saw a similar sized ball of slicing air rush to meet the fire. And then he realized that both were accelerating towards each other..._with the jounin in between_. Another realization shook him when it dawned that it was _Naruto _casting this jutsu, and _another _realization when he recognized the ball of air as wind, and wind added to fire…

_Hey_. This could work.

The sounds of firecrackers met with the high pitched whistles, sharp as knives, and the fire exploded in the center of the clearing. By the time the fire cleared away, a ball of water at the nucleus of the clearing became visible and… _Kakashi _was sitting in the center. A thread of water connected the ball to...was that Naruto?

"You let me catch you in this water sphere," Naruto stated, staring at the jounin with barely-contained excitement.

"Well, I would have been burned alive otherwise, since you went through the trouble or cursing the ground beneath us when you let me hit you. I couldn't get underground." Kakashi gave an affronted look at the three. "Put me down, would you?"

Naruto beamed as he dropped his hands from the sign, causing the sphere to lose its shape and dumping the jounin unceremoniously onto the ground, effectively dousing him in water. Hatake stood up and gave all three of them, who were each stationed on one vertex of the triangle around him, an appreciative look.

"Not bad, you guys. You guys caught me while I was using half-power." Sasuke watched carefully as the jounin scanned the forest around him. "And, you three have somehow managed to effectively obliterate four entire rows of trees around the perimeter of this clearing." Sasuke smirked as Sakura winced at the damage. Naruto simply continued to stare at the jounin with a huge smile.

"So, what's the judgement?" Naruto asked loudly.

"_I_ am still in possession of both bells," the jounin declared. And sure enough, the two bells were still hanging loosely from the red strings attached to his belt loop. Sakura flushed in irritation and Naruto began to splutter like a fish without air. All three of them knew, knew without Naruto having to tell them anything, that somehow, in _some way_, this teamwork thing was the answer, because it was just— _right_. At that, Sasuke decided to chip in, seeing as he was the only calm one left.

"Well, this genin test sure has a lot of purpose then," said Sasuke, scoffing. Kakashi gave him an amused look, prompting him to continue. "Really, three not-yet genin trying to defeat a jounin? We would have no shinobi at all at this rate. Konoha would literally be the size of a leaf if that were true." Sasuke kept his glare fixed on Hatake, but he could see Sakura shift and open her mouth to say something. Good, Sasuke thought. She saw her chance and took it.

"Besides, no jounin would be made a sensei if the particular candidate really expected three shrimps to get a lobster," Sakura added tentatively.

"Yeah, that's totally true, y'know!" Naruto piped up.

All three of them observed the sensei with bated breath as they awaited his next words.

"Well, what would you say you guys are?" This question caught Sasuke completely off guard, and it seemed to catch Naruto and Sakura too. Sasuke looked to Naruto who looked to Sakura who looked to both the two of them, and their faces all lightened a load as one yellow bird each settled on Sasuke's and Sakura's shoulders, and three separate voices resonated in all their heads at the same time.

_A team_.

And that's what they told Kakashi.

* * *

><p>Gai had been slightly put-off this morning when his three cute (okay, maybe not all of them were <em>too <em>cute because Neji was as cute as a porcupine with its needles up your posterior and Tenten was just plain scary) genin showed up for training, seemingly distracted.

"What is toiling in those young minds of yours today, comrades? Such unyouthful things such as distraction should never have to coexist with the flames of training great youth!" Gai had yelled out excitedly after he had noticed that all of them were performing slightly rustier than before. After all, it _was_ a goal of his to figure out those enlightening minds of his cute (again, not _so _cute) genin. (He later weaseled out of Lee that Neji was being even more unamiable than usual because his cousin was taking the genin test with her sensei today, and that put everyone off. Gai figured that he'd have to beat some sense into Hyuuga sooner or later.)

On a slightly less related note, it was also a goal of his to get Kakashi to eat some dango with him, Asuma, Kurenai, and some of the other ninja from their class for _once_. And god, this goal had been successfully flouted time and time again for over an entire _decade_ now.

So imagine Gai's initial shock when Kakashi had actually bothered to spare a glance at the three jounin that were chatting jovially over dango when Gai had called out his name.

Imagine Gai's _utter disbelief _when Kakashi actually smiled _pleasantly_ and _walked _over to the table. _For the first time. Ever._

Gai decided right then and there that his life was complete. (And then revoked that thought later when he decided that he still had his cute —again, _not really_—genin to teach.)

Kurenai set down her teacup quickly, sloshing a little over the side, to avoid completely dropping the entire thing in shock, while Asuma's unlit cigarette prompting fell to the table as his mouth went slack for a moment. Despite being the most alarmed, Gai was still the first to speak up.

"Yo, Kakashi, have you finally tapped into your great flames of youth! I am so proud of you, my eternal rival!"

Asuma, seemingly recovered from his mental failure, snorted, "Flames of youth? His appearance can put that fire out any day now." And sure enough, Kakashi was still drenched and dripping water from head to toe—his hair was lying the flattest any of them had ever seen and the wood surrounding where Kakashi had rested his elbows on the table was darkening from the water.

"So," Asuma began carefully. "How did the three peons do?" At this, Kurenai looked up at Kakashi curiously, intent on finding out the results. Even Gai, exuberant in his pestering, fell silent and looked to his rival in utter concentration.

With a sudden serious expression, Kakashi set down his book and faced the three, and quite unexpectedly broke into his ludicrous smile again. "They passed." Gai slumped back with a sigh of relief. "With flying colors." At this, all three leapt to attention again. Hatake Kakashi, praising genin? _Flying colors? _(But quite frankly, they could see why just from their secluded friend's drenched state.)

Gai did not know what to think. Before he realized, he was blurting out, "Who are you, and what have you done with my hip rival? To impersonate is neither hip, nor youthful!"

Kakashi continued to smile away and responded, "They met my expectations and more." The room regained a higher seriousness when he followed it with, "I just wonder if they can keep it up." On that serious note, the jounin stuck his hands back into his pockets, stood up, and left.

A strange emptiness lingered in the wake of his departure.

Kurenai looked to her two seniors. "He was actually impressed by _those _three? Amazing, I thought they were a haphazardly thrown-together time bomb." Asuma nodded thoughtfully.

"I wonder what sort of geniuses they must be to pass his test." He leaned back and picked up another dango stick from the tray. "Now that I think of it, I don't recall him ever mentioning, even once, what his test is about." A thoughtful silence settled upon them when Gai suddenly jumped up into his trademark nice guy pose.

"I shall go in pursuit of my friend and eternal rival to ask about his cute" (any monster that can drench Kakashi like _that_ shouldn't be _too_ cute, so he quickly took that back in his mind) "little genin!" And with that, Gai sped up to catch up to Kakashi, leaving clouds of dust behind.

And really, he thought, these genin would be good. They could become Kakashi's precious people, after he had lost so many and he could finally lighten up a little and participate in some of the (admittedly stupid) competitions that he always challenged him too. _Yeah_, he grinned. This could really be—

_—good_.

* * *

><p>Kakashi, in his normal ritual of talking to Obito, was feeling more lighthearted than he had in <em>ages<em>.

The days preceding genin team selections were absolute _hell_, and he sure wasn't exaggerating, because in the course of those dragged on nights, he was mercilessly hounded by dreams and nightmares of the past genin he had tested, flashing images of them standing, ready to finish each other off. Nightmares of Minato sensei and his blinding cheer, nightmares of Rin _dying _in his arms, nightmares of Obito—_gone_, nightmares of his own cracked team and how those fissures had widened so quickly, of how those fissures would lead to him being the only one left on the team that had made him _so_ _happy_, no matter how much he had refused to acknowledge that.

But, alas, it was too late now because all was gone and all was done—his old teammates were dead, and he was horribly, achingly alone.

Except... now, _now_ there were people to care for. People to love. And those kids had actually acted like a team. He couldn't be sure exactly _how_ they had gotten their act together so quickly, but they had—and that was all that had mattered for the test. Any later holes in teamwork could somehow be mended—Kakashi would personally see to that task with utmost, painstaking meticulosity—but he doubted if their teamwork could far apart like his had, because had seen their faces so clearly. Drenched, soaked to bone, and not really humiliated at all, Kakashi had watched the three smile at him in some sort of connected pride, look at one another, and how they had _nodded _to each other in some sort of affirmation, then looked at him again with those birds on their shoulders and their words…

_"A team_."

"Maybe...maybe redemption isn't too far off, Obito." Obito's large smile and ridiculous goggles, huge dreams, philanthropist lifestyle and an undying fire to help his comrades had probably led to his own death, and Kakashi respected his old friend for that just as much as he regretted how they had never truly became a team.

I got pegged as a sensei again this year, you see, and I was honestly a little trepidatious at the thought of testing almost-genin again, really. Do you remember me telling you about those little monsters three years ago? Trying to finish each other off, that couldn't do. Then the overprotective nii-san the next, and some other team I don't even remember after them. None of them lived up to your legacy, and that was disappointing. The team this year was supposed to be the biggest hazard ever, but look. They did _this _to me. If you ever taught me anything aside from the importance of comradeship, it's how to _never _underestimate people—

—was what he really wanted to say out loud. But he was Kakashi, and was typically even more reserved than normal shinobi. But he knew Obito would understand.

So in the end, he had an obsessive fangirl, a genius avenger, and a dead-last idiot for a team and a family, in addition to his already quirked up jounin associates. But the fangirl had a good mind for strategy, the avenger was an awkward ball of fluff just waiting to be prodded and freed, and the idiot might not have been that much of an idiot after all. In fact, _far _from an idiot.

Perhaps, _oh _how he wished, perhaps…

...he could finally start putting his inner demons to rest.

* * *

><p>"I am pleased to say that Team 7 has passed and will be ready for D-rank missions as of tomorrow."<p>

Hiruzen shifted his quill to make way for the lit candle and tin of wax. Truthfully, he was not _only_ pleasantly satisfied with this turnout—in fact, he was overjoyed. Sakura had always shown aptitude, the Uchiha could rediscover new morals, and Naruto was just special. Then there was Kakashi-kun and his constant dreariness, broken-down bits tucked behind a swatch of black cloth. But his loyalty was unswerving, and his dedication never-ending. He could help those kids, and in turn, the kids could work miracles for Kakashi's heart.

"Oh? That's very good news, Kakashi-kun. How do you feel about your new team?" The jounin in front of him straightened from his bow, having recognized the tone as one indicating conversation.

"They're—" Hiruzen inhaled slowly on his pipe in anticipation of his answer. "—very, very good."

"Really? Elaborate, if you will."

Another hesitation. "Well, their skill sets complement one another very well. Uchiha is quite adept at picking things up and Sakura could bloom terrifically with some training and numerous considerably-sized dollops of motivation. Naruto… well." Hiruzen halted his careful handling of the slowly melting wax for a moment to scrutinize his student's student's...student.

"You're not hesitating because of the Kyuubi, I hope." Kakashi's eyes widened and scrunched up into a humiliated smile at the sudden insinuation.

"Maa, I've nothing against his furry problem, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied earnestly, with a touch of exasperation, waving his hands in disconfirmation. "Really, no. I simply paused because…" Another hesitation, Hiruzen noted.

"Because— well, he's special. And odd in a good way, I suppose. And...I'm not entirely sure. It's just that…" Hiruzen watched as Kakashi slipped back into his separate world of thought.

"You were saying, Kakashi-kun?" Kakashi snapped back to attention.

"Ah, yeah. Naruto...well, something's different about him." Kakashi gave his ridiculous eye smile again at Hiruzen's sharp look of questioning. "Like, around him, everything feels... sharper? Fuzzier? Warmer? I feel more in tune with everything around me while he's nearby, and perhaps the fuzziness is just sensory overload, but I feel like hugging animals, and—" Hiruzen watched Kakashi freeze up upon realizing what he had just said.

Kakashi coughed indiscreetly before continuing. "Well, the point is, I just feel like the world's a better place around that kid, and that peace actually exists. I do not know why, or how, and I'm sure it's not just me because I _saw_ with my own eyes—well, _eye_—how those kids had interacted. They flanked Naruto like he was the natural leader of it all. And I bet you, they should not have been acting like that on their first assignment with each other."

Just then, a streak of yellow darted through the window, prompting Kakashi to grab a kunai from his holster and drop down into a defensive stance immediately, only to realize that it had landed on Hiruzen's shoulder and was only a—

"Ah, another bird." Hiruzen stroked the bird's neck as their thoughts connected for a brief moment. "Crane," he called out, and an ANBU by the door behind Kakashi raised her head to confirm her attention. "There's a thief straggling by our village borders. Go take care of it. Dismissed." The ANBU dipped her head and departed silently.

Hiruzen looked to Kakashi, who had already discarded his mask of indifference not long after the conversation started. Kakashi was staring at him with questions written all over his face.

"Minato's son is an interesting one, isn't he?" Kakashi began to nod his head, and then stopped.

"Wh-what?"

"Look after him, will you? It's the least we can do."

"Affirmative, Hokage-sama." Hiruzen smiled graciously at the man before him.

"You're dismissed too. I assume you want to test them further tomorrow instead of going out for a mission? You'll need your sleep." With one last questioning look at the bird that Hiruzen _knew_ Kakashi had recognized somehow, the jounin dipped his head too, and departed.

He slunk back into his chair and set the candle aside, taking the tin of hot, gooey green wax into his hand. Dripping it onto the paper in front of him, he took the stamp that was engraved with Konoha's seal and embossed it in the still-gooey wax.

Hiruzen took one last look at the paper before setting it aside. Four faces, three young ones lined up under an older one, looked right back at him with wide smiles and dreary grimaces.

_Team 7_, he pondered as he blew out the candle, watching the sun disappear behind the horizon in a blaze of bleeding reds. _This is going to be a dynamic new generation_.

And he truly believed it.

As the last sparks of the candle fizzed out and the smoke entwined artfully with the feathers of the yellow bird that was probably soaring back to its home, nothing could convince him otherwise, if the bird itself was any proof. Team 7 had just embarked on its great journey, yet Hiruzen could see the living legends in them already.

Life was like the candle and its smoke, after all. A brilliant, lasting flame of glory, remembered by the endless trails of curling ashes, somehow finding its way into every story. Some flames burned brighter, and some trails lingered longer.

And somehow, he knew that the epitome of flaming brilliance was right in front him.


	3. Echoes of Sacrifice

I was gooooone so looooong. (I almost broke my no-going-over-one-month-rule omg. Just three days more and I actually would have.) oMg I feel bad. End of the semester shit in school and all, I guess I lost track of how long I hadn't written. Ugh where is this story even going lol. I don't have anything planned for after {sentinels of a childhood long past}. I am so pitiful. Crying. Please enjoy my sad efforts. Merry Christmas by the way. I might have another chapter up by Christmas. 75% of it. Keep your fingers crossed.

* * *

><p>{sentinels of a childhood long past}<br>echoes of sacrifice

* * *

><p>A thought crept to the forefront of his mind: <em>"You're the Kyuubi, Uzumaki. It's in you."<em>

Since he was seven, Naruto has known to some extent that he was, in fact, a jailer.

_Power of human sacrifice_, the winds had whispered to him. _Jinchūriki_, they hissed, and then the hisses died on his ears, but the echoes never stopped. He would lay in his rickety old bed for days on end, surrounded by confusion and rolling in turmoil. Jinchūriki, what the _hell _did it mean? And how in the world did that apply it apply to _him?_ Was he a human sacrifice? And even if he was, why was he alive then? And yet, the voices made sure he that somewhat knew that jinchūriki meant that he _held_ something. It wasn't as if they were very sensitive about broaching the topic in the first place.

But he _knew _that there was something in him—something terrible, because voices that were not of nature's world would haunt his dreams, a single voice of a sinister tenor. Nights of no sleep were spent like that, but then daylight would come and he'd be forced to get up.

He had spent his days in a haze, ostracized and all but mocked for this offstandish behavior. Naruto drifted in some sense, but eventually, clarity was offered to him. After the rain on a particularly early autumn night had washed the dullness away, everything seemed eerily quiet and considerably sharpened as he was struck by a sudden gust of inspiration. _Jinchūriki_, the puddles whispered. _Jinchūriki_. _Power. Sacrifice_. Then all the glares made sense to him. It was a very sudden revelation, like a smack to his head, and he realized that those glares _meant _something. _Foxes with nine lashing tails_, the grasses hummed, though he didn't know what they meant. Naruto more or less forgot about the fox soon enough. _You're the power of sacrifice, gaki. _If one asked, he could respond with utmost detail the day he realized that this jinchūriki thing was why people hated him.

Since then, Naruto realized that whatever this jinchūriki thing had to do with anything, it had an effect on the nature around him. Flowers and plants seemed to bloom quicker whenever he was in the depths of despair about his predicament.

He was a jinchūriki.

A _human_ _sacrifice_.

Now, five years later as he's toying with a kunai in his apartment and laying on his back, he thinks this—_damn, Mizuki_—and there's nothing he can really do about it.

Long since resigned to the fact, he went with it.

* * *

><p><em>July 10th<em>

Naruto lay comfortably in the grasses of Training Field 3 while Sasuke was brooding darkly by himself and Sakura was nearby, cooing. Needless to say, all their minds were on a single topic: _Kakashi-sensei's perpetual lateness_.

Sasuke was utterly incensed at the fact, as was Sakura, and Naruto just couldn't decide if this sort of sensei was totally cool or totally ho-hum at being a sensei. Probably both, he realized.

Naruto closed his eyes and let himself sink into the bed of grass even more, welcoming the whispers of the air and energy around him. He wasn't entirely sure _when_ he had acquired this ability, but for some reason, the natural energy around him spoke. The wind was always the loudest among all, even though it said the least. It was—strangely—the trees that said the most, having weathered through all the elements.. Earth, ever dormant, was willing to trade whispers more often than the rest and water always served to soothe him with it's high-strung bubbling. Fire and lightning crackled merrily in his face with gossipy tales of their pasts when he was near, but confrontations were by far and few.

Wind, his own element, gave him reality.

It was wind that had told him he was a jinchūriki, wind that had assured him things weren't _that_ bad, in the only way that could calm him. Wind that gave him hints. That helped him, tutored him even.

Yet, it talked the least. But that didn't matter.

Somewhere deep inside, Naruto realized that he was probably hearing old spirits of dead people, people that had associated with these elements the most. They told him as much, anyway. He couldn't even be sure that these spirits _knew_ they were talking. For all he knew, the voices could just be imprints left in the world before they transcended to the Pure Land.

For all he knew, he could just be hallucinating.

Either way, it didn't matter to him—as long as the voices were there, he wasn't truly alone.

But he did need to find himself some actual friends that he could see and physically touch.

Team 7 was a good place to start, and after pulling that little bird trick the other day, the mind connection and _working together_, now it didn't take his birds to figure out that the other two actually liked the prospect of working together, somewhere inside. Sure, Sasuke would deny it to the ends of the earth and Sakura would stutter profusely, no matter how much she loved the adorable animals.

But all was okay, because Uzumaki Naruto had a plan.

And his plans _never_ failed. (Not to date, anyway.)

Naruto raised his right hand to his lips in a half-tiger seal to mask the noise with focused wind energy, and released a three-tone whistle, silent to everyone but himself. Two birds, one light blue and one reddish-pink, flew over to him and perched themselves on either shoulder when he sat up.

He stood and made his way over to where Sasuke and Sakura were with a devilish grin that promised pain, mind set on his goal.

"How 'bout we pull a new one on Kakashi-sensei?" he proposed, when they looked at him in question. Sakura seemed a little hesitant when the words reached her ears, but it was clear that she wanted just as much as Naruto did to prank the late jōnin even further.

Sasuke, pride ever intact, huffed and stared off into another direction, but even Naruto could see a smirk pulled slightly at the corners of his lips.

* * *

><p>Kakashi was torn between teaching those kids a lesson and patting each of them on the head twice.<p>

They were smarter than normal genin should have been, which was great. But they were smarter than normal genin should have been, which was _not really great_. Sasuke and Sakura were both intelligent and had extremely powerful brains, and Naruto just had the sheer abundance of intuitive to make up for his lack.

"Why did_ I_ have to get stuck with the _evil _ones?" he muttered to himself, annoyed and utterly pissed at the fact that he was, once again, dripping wet. How did he _not _see this coming? The second he popped into existence at the bridge, he got a whole volley of water bullets launched right at him and was drenched before he could even kawarimi. He supposed that he let his guard down, having his eyes closed in a smile and chakra dormant, unsensing.

The blondie was the one who did the handiwork, obviously, while Sakura most likely strategized. Sasuke was there to keep him from escaping with a thin sphere of flame around Kakashi. Needless to say, he was pleased and very _not_ pleased, both at the same time. Ah...the pleasures of _ambivalence_, he chided to himself. Ambivalence was the last thing shinobi needed.

"Well then, I guess you brats really took this skill evaluation to heart?" he asked lightly in a dangerous tone. Despite his smile, the three brats were very much aware that their sensei was irritated, but they still consistently ignored that. Naruto fell to the floor, clutching his sides in laughter, Sakura kept looking elsewhere while frowning intensely— contradicting the wicked gleam in her eyes, and Sasuke was smirking despite himself.

"My second impression of you guys...you're interestingly annoying." He smiled again, earning a scowl from all three of them simultaneously. "So. Let's get started."

Kakashi pointed at Naruto and motioned for him to stand directly in front of him, and he put Sasuke to Naruto's left and Sakura to the right. It was quite obvious who the leader of the three was, so he stuck to that general notion. The three genin eyed him oddly as their sopping wet sensei stood before them, satisfied gleam in his eye.

"First thing's first. Taijutsu. Uchiha." The Uchiha straightened in attention and narrowed his eyes warily. "You first." Sasuke took a step forward as Naruto and Sakura instinctively moved back. "The rules are simple. You have to keep going for as long as you can and pull out your best taijutsu so I can assess your strengths and weaknesses. No weapons and no chakra allowed. When I say go, you go."

Sasuke scowled in confirmation of understanding and settled into a familiar stance. _Aha_, Kakashi thought to himself. He could already predict the boy's moves—the Uchiha clan style was the only one Obito had ever used, after all. Kakashi was certain that he could slip by these moves easily, though perhaps not like he could with Obito. Obito— well he Obito a special case. _The most special Uchiha of all_, he pondered fondly, and tilted his head at the genin before him mockingly.

"Three," Kakashi started, and Sasuke shifted his foot back, extended an arm.

"Two," The boy's eyes squinted in determination when Kakashi adjusted his own standing position, posing a single hand in front of him lazily.

"One," Kakashi suppressed his amusement at Sasuke's obvious frustration.

It was as if an actual cannon exploded the very second Kakashi uttered, "Go."

Sasuke took off and swerved left, reminiscent of the way Obito had always swerved right, and aimed a kick at Kakashi's midsection. Parrying the kick easily, Kakashi flipped the boy sideways, landing him in a plume of dust. Sasuke got right back up and charged again, Uchiha ego and pride wounded, but determined nonetheless.

_Oh my, well good luck with that, my dear teammate— _and once more, Kakashi defended with all the foresight he had on the Uchiha's fighting style. For some reason—_my dear, dear, teammate_—he felt like Obito was laughing at him from heaven—_never thought you'd have to deal with my style again, huh, baka?_

After five more minutes of rather one-sided fighting in that particular vein, Kakashi finally stopped Sasuke in his movements and shoved him back a little.

"Your movements are quick." Sasuke perked up. (Or raised his head little, it really depended on the viewer's sense of sarcasm, Kakashi noted.) "But you need to get quicker." He slumped. "Your fighting style is too predictable to any of those who are familiar with the Uchiha fighting style, so I suggest you integrate some new stuff into it." Kakashi grinned with his classic insufferable grin and a tilt of his head. "Maa, it won't be too easy, but I'm sure you want the extra work." With a scowl, Sasuke returned to the line and sulked. (Not that he would admit it, not for a million years. But he sulked, and that was at least true.) Kakashi was still impressed though; reaction time was snappy and pickup on strategies and forms was already immaculate, despite having no Sharingan at that point. The boy's movements adapted easily and he was extremely nimble, even for an Uchiha. A genius down to the boot.

Next in line—well, Naruto.

Before he could even finish the countdown, Naruto took off like a bullet, surprisingly quick. "Shinobi don't just stand and _wait _in battles for their opponent to wail on them, sensei! And I'm _sure _you _know that!_"

Kakashi barely dodged the kick at the last moment, and swung to the side. He extended his hands out in front of him, and Naruto charged again. He caught Naruto in the shoulder, but the boy swung back, avoiding the obvious follow-up hit easily.

The boy had strange movements, seemingly dodging the hits that he could dodge, but using the "dodge" as an offensive blow by slipping near Kakashi and extending arm or leg, whichever, but each attempt at a blow was unnaturally quick, like sharp blades pushed by wind. Naruto also kept muttering to himself during the spar—odd.

Kakashi was quite surprised at the way Naruto fought—it was sudden, unexpected, _unnerving_, dramatic, _unyielding_, unpredictable—_swift_.

_Like the wind_.

Kakashi shook the thought out of his head—_where did that comparison come from?_—as he leapt back from the brief millisecond connection of Naruto's leg to his waist. The dodgy slice movements from earlier progressed into full-on body swerves and attacks with his arms and legs.

_From a breeze to blasts of icy gale_. The uneven match—Kakashi had far more experience, after all—was quickly called to an end, with Naruto on the floor from a hard blow to the back of his legs.

Kakashi regarded the blond strangely as Sakura moved forward, wary and tentative, sea green eyes trained on him. She set herself into a basic Academy taijutsu position—perfectly formed, exact textbook copy.

Minutes later, it was perfectly clear that Sakura needed work with new taijutsu forms, but her natural strength was unbelievably great, and much potential could be seen in her. Strength like hers, she could become a front-line fighter at this rate.

Kakashi looked from face to face—intrigued onyx eyes to blue ones pulsing with electricity, pupils dilated with adrenaline, to clear green ones, analytical and frenzied in excitement—and grinned evilly, to their utmost horror.

"Say, genjutsu sounds fun, yes?"

* * *

><p>Jinchuriki, Naruto had decided, was a nice word.<p>

There was something about it that was ancient and worn—sort of timeless, really—and rich about it. Like it belonged in one of those old legends that told tales of great heroes and their terrible foes, the legendary heroes with their great power and even greater morals. It was the furthest thing from reality, really. Still, there was just something _about _it, something that made you think of heavy curtains and dusty volumes, mystery enveloped in the folds of time.

No matter how much the dictionary explanation of jinchuriki set Naruto on an edge, the olden tenor behind the term's sound and it's true _meaning_ was, all in all, tragically exquisite.

Somehow, this calmed Naruto a little, no matter how small a comfort and how childish a notion it was that being a jinchūriki could be okay for him just 'cause of the way the word sounded. Just 'cause it was old and ancient and _mysterious_, and strangely romantic.

_Somehow_, it made everything okay, especially when it was the sweet tongues of early autumn breezes murmuring the thick, heavy word into his ears.

* * *

><p>Kakashi pulled Naruto aside after the genjutsu detection and breaking session. Ninjutsu could be saved for another day when their chakra levels were intact, he supposed. He <em>was<em> about to let him go after Sasuke and Sakura had already disappeared from sight, but there was one more thing he needed to ask.

"You know, I noticed that bird thing the other day, and how you guys suddenly knit yourselves into a team." Naruto's eyebrows knit together as he scrunched up his nose thoughtfully. "What was that, may I ask?"

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "It's a secret, Kakashi-sensei," and he laughed.

"Mind telling me?" Kakashi replied, disgruntled. "I _am_ your sensei."

"Of one day, so far," the blond retorted, and he got to his feet. Naruto eyed Kakashi strangely, before continuing on in the same light tone. "I have this thing with nature, y'know, and it's sort of been my thing since I was little. See, I have these crazy little voices in my head—" and he stopped at Kakashi's expression, then laughed again.

"Voices...in your head?" Kakashi seized up at this. Was the Kyuubi contacting its jailer? Was Naruto _taking deals_ with it? Was _that_ why he was suddenly so fast and elevated in power? His voice was oddly high-pitched when he spoke again. "Like what sort of voices?"

"Oh, well. Nice, I suppose, and really helpful. Kinda whispery, you know, like wind. _It is the wind_," he said, and he muttered that last part so lightly Kakashi had barely caught it. Naruto smiled widely again before continuing. "They're nature's callings, spirits!" Kakashi suppressed the urge to laugh underneath all his horror.

Naruto looked at him suspiciously. "You—you won't tell anyone, right?"

Kakashi nodded. "I promise."

And Naruto _smiled_.

Later, as Kakashi was strolling home, head bent down and observing the gravel he stepped on, he realized that he really could _not_ bring himself to break that promise. Naruto's smile—_Minato-sensei's_ smile—kept flashing before his eyes, relentlessly. The large trusting smile, all teeth and gums, blinding and brilliant as the sun—_happy_.

So absorbed in his thoughts he was, that Kakashi almost didn't notice the innocent grey turtledove sitting on his windowsill—intelligent eyes, gorgeous feathers, and a trusting note tied around its neck.

* * *

><p>Naruto knew that he was utterly, <em>utterly<em> stupid for thinking that the villagers could possibly warm up to him after he became a genin. Sure, it meant that he was technically an adult now.

What else? Nothing else.

It's not like the civilians would understand, anyway, what with their odd 16-years-to-be-an-adult rule that is ingrained into their minds. Naruto doesn't understand that, and decides that he's better off not questioning anything about the civilians, just as they don't question the shinobi.

This world was surely twisted, he thought, this world where you wouldn't a real man until you had killed a person, but those that had were shunned and feared for a good portion of time. Where you weren't a true woman until you'd lost _it_ to your enemy, the person you had to interrogate or assassinate, yet those that _did_ were _criticized_ for '_flaunting themselves_' and _'being too showy'_. In this world he lived, where children were sacrificed to the darker side of humanity and left to fend for themselves when they couldn't pick themselves up again. Was it truly so horrible to remain ignorant but still a child?

Naruto didn't know, but he sure envied the civilians sometimes. The shinobi regarded ignorance so poorly, that he couldn't help but feel ashamed for his thoughts. At the same time, Naruto was sure that many other shinobi thought this too.

He wasn't truly an adult, not yet, not until he had killed a man.

He wasn't sure he _wanted_ to kill a man.

And once he did, _if _he did, the villagers would somehow find out and they would hate him even more.

Life sucked in general.

As he traipsed through the village, Naruto looked down at his attire, and grimaced at the overly bright orange suit, in all its baggy glory. He'd meant to get rid of this thing some time ago but never got around to it. He looked up, and felt a large smile creep onto his face as his great luck.

A clothing store.

With something that looked absolutely perfect right in the window.

Naruto was just about to walk right into the store without a second thought before he remembered who he was, and that getting denied permission to buy something would certainly not help in this case, and would only waste his time. If he were unlucky, then he could get physically harmed, and Naruto wasn't sure he wanted that.

He closed his eyes and honed in on the golden energy deep within him, drawing in on the signatures of everyone within a mile-radius. Weak chakra signatures, the signatures of civilians, were the only things that appeared, other than the stronger shinobi signatures. There were none near enough to see him though, so he was clear.

Naruto stepped into a shadow and silently performed a henge of a nearby civilian, then went in and claimed his prize.

Hours later, he was still laughing immaturely into his pillow about how easy civilians were to dupe.

* * *

><p>Sometimes, Naruto wasn't really sure who he was.<p>

The line between _prankingstupidfool_ and _adorablenaturalgenius_ would blur at times, and Naruto would be left in a state of confusion. The fool was a shield he had put up at a much younger age to deflect attention from his dangerous knowledge, but over time, it became just as much a part of him as the windsongs in his head were.

Throw in the villagers' ostracizing coupled with another sinister voice in his nightmares, and he may as well be the fox too.

Naruto was elated, sure—he passed the sudden teamwork test, his sensei seemed to like them, and Sasuke wasn't so..._cold_ anymore. All seemed to be at peace, and Naruto was utterly content—but not quite.

Ever since he had discovered what he is (_human sacrifice_, the winds murmured), Naruto had closed himself off by putting up a stupid version of himself—_to be ridiculed_—because he discovered, that _strangely_, for _some_ reason, to act like an idiot took away his hurt. The attention, no matter how negative, consoled him and told him that those people hated his behavior because he was _stupid_, not because he was the bloody container of some _monster_, some— some _thing_. (_The Kyuubi's powerful, gaki. Do not forget that_.) He was still quite cheerful, really. Natural cheer and disposition, all parts of him. An optimistic beam of light. But to be smart and to be genius were two entirely different things, and in the end, he elected the smart way.

(_But oh, how the lines blurred._)

But now, he had a team, and he's been in a team for two months since July now. A group of people he'd have to spend time with in close quarters for the majority of his days, for the majority of his _lifetime_. To hide his prowess (superiority? No, that wasn't it) like this from them was making him tense, which he didn't like. How long could he keep this up anyway? Would he even last a week? They already had an idea of what he could do from the bell test the previous day, so why not drop the bomb on them? (Not superiority he knew, but anomalous.)

(Anomalous was _jinchūriki._)  
>(Jinchūriki was <em>anomalous<em>.)

Naruto knew why he was hesitating—even though he hated to admit this to himself—and in no way did he want to accept this fact. Deep down, he knew that he was still a child, a child that wanted attention without any heed to if it were positive or not. He didn't _want_ to be discovered at first, but later it became clear that he didn't have the _choice_.

Unfortunately for him, the others of Team 7 had caught on to this much quicker than he had expected.

In truth, it wasn't that much of an outstanding feat, seeing as Naruto was literally the most bipolar being they had seen to be on earth. One moment he would be laughing loudly about some prank and getting whacked in the head by Sakura, but the next he would be sitting in what seemed to be a meditative position and observing the surroundings around him with an uncharacteristically inquisitive, calm demeanor.

Occasionally, on the stormier and windier days, Naruto would take to sitting under a tree, muttering to himself incessantly while moving his hands around in strange, foreign seals. Once, Sasuke had managed to get close enough to hear him, to find that his strange mutterings were fragmented questions and broken-up theorizing.

They were all a little worried about Naruto, and that worry only increased itself when Naruto showed up in something socially _acceptable_ for once. It was like the clothing he had worn when he was younger, really, but the short-sleeved jacket was grey and black instead of orange and blue. Naruto retained his orange pants, insufferably colored though it was, but the cuffs were trimmed and didn't have the same bagginess from being having to be rolled up now. Upon the closer inspection, they were probably another pair because of the more rusty orange shade.

Naruto himself noticed these reactions, and decided that he simply did not care any longer.

If anything, he refused to be rejected—_he wanted to be found_—yet at the same time—_to be cared for_—he didn't want to be _stupid_ anymore, especially not to his team.

(_But oh, oh, how those lines just blurred._)

* * *

><p><em>August 27th<em>

There's been something that has bothered Naruto for a very long time now.

So, he's a jinchūriki and all, and there's something in him, not quite _him_, not quite good, but evil. Diluted, potent, evil. Kyuubi. So how did it come to be in _him_? Sealed, sure, but why had the Yondaime put it in _him_? Naruto had not dared to complete that thought, and when he was home free from a slew of D-ranks, Naruto finally mustered up the resolve to visit the village's Grand Archive.

As he walked along the path, Naruto smiled at the leaves drifting with the breeze, cushioning the people's footfalls. August was just barely ending, and it was a little more than a week, to exactly two months since Team 7 was formed. To when all the _other_ genin teams were formed also. _September 9th._ The first flower festival in September to top off the smaller ones throughout the month in the different districts, and by far his favorite.

Naruto didn't consider this botany-obsessed trait of his to be girly, not really, and he took some pride in it instead. He enjoyed the beauty behind flowers, but it was what they symbolised that got him more. An ephemeral, dazzling brilliance of colors, sustained by a _life force_.

He loved the idea of life of moving, breathing, and basically thriving off of a life force. Life was like this magical thing, and when one was trained to be a shinobi, the magic of a life was appreciated all the more. _Too bad I'm a 'sacrifice', after all,_ he thought bitterly, before shoving the negative thoughts away.

Flowers were life pushed to an enrapturing beauty, so short, but so _impacting_. Sustaining the cycle in the forests, taking nutrients and supplies and using it to give the good things back. Efficiently brief, flowers were, but they returned every year.

Naruto stopped this pondering upon reaching his destination, plucking a lone leaf out of his hair.

The Grand Archive was a tall building for a building in Konoha. Konoha being discreet and hidden in trees, the village could not afford to have such high structures to defeat the forest's whole purpose in the first place. At four floors and extremely spacey on each, the Grand Archive was indeed large. It was not quite the Konoha Library, nor the Archive Library; the Grand Archive held more organized information, information stacked in such a way that ninjas could find the stuff they needed for a mission or other duties quite easily. History was closely tied into shinobi affairs, and would not be archived in the same fashion as the history files in the Archive Library, or in the same way as the textbooks in the public library.

So, Naruto had expected a challenge at getting into the Grand Archive, since the archive held highly classified information only accessible to the Hokage and his chūnin and jōnin, along with genin had permission from their sensei. But, in actuality, it was incredibly easy to slip past the old curator. After many years of slipping past people, Naruto had expected a larger challenge, but simply going in behind another person was enough to dismiss any attention from him. With a newfound research area to explore, Naruto headed straight for the scrolls and pamphlets that outlined the Yondaime's reign, which were unsurprisingly small in number, given the short time he held office.

Ignoring the small scrolls, Naruto immediately went for the thickest bound-book, which he was certain covered the Yondaime's entire reign instead of small battles, and flipped to the very end, when his life had ended with the fox. He waved his hand to remove the dust from the old tome and took a deep breath, prepared for a revelation.

When Naruto at last comprehended the final sentence twenty minutes later, he was, in short, mindblown.

And he didn't know how to react.

Naruto dropped the book with a thud, hands shaking, and bolted out the archive library, ignoring the old man's yells behind him because in a moment like that, who cared about some old geezer yelling after you for dropping a book?

He ran, ran until he reached a deep area within the forest where no one would be able to bother him or even _see_ him, and came to a stunning revelation as to _why_ the Grand Archive was closed to anyone even mildly within his age group, the genin.

Because this thing-_monster-**demon**_ that was supposed to be _dead_—he was _told_ that it was _dead_—is in _him_ and the Yondaime died sealing it into _him_. Him. _I killed the Yondaime_—was the first thought, but the next—_why me?_

But the one thing that hurt the most, that made everything (_I killed the Yondaime_), and his whole life (_why me?_) all the more horrible—

there was no mistaking—

that hair—

the mouth—

those eyes—

that expression when he was serious—

—there was _no_ mistaking the truth for what it was.

Far into the outskirts of the central village and deep in the forest by now, he raced past the new chrysanthemum blooms and the fiery leaves of autumn—_the chrysanthemums bloom when the leaves turn red—_trying to empty his head of all thoughts. (**_Watch the flowers bloom, Naruto_,**_ the blond man said in his dreams, but he's just another liar now._)_  
><em>

A glint of metal caught his eye, and then he tripped.

* * *

><p><em>August 28th<em>

Sasuke did not know what to think about this team thing.

He was a one-man team, his own person, and he wasn't supposed to rely on others to help him—in fact, they only held him back. But the sudden display of teamwork on the day of the actual genin test was…well, it was certainly more than enough to have Sasuke question his own morals of solitude.

Deep in his gut, he recognized the fact he would have _never_ gotten the jōnin down, had he charged in alone as originally planned. Instead, the job had been ridiculously simple with the other two helping, and when had the dobe gotten so ridiculously _strong_?

All through the Academy, the idiot had been playing pranks and laughing all too loudly, obnoxious to the core. He had failed the entrance exam twice—no, _three_ times—and had only gotten his headband through circumstances that Sasuke had yet to find out about. While he was so intent on doing everything alone, Naruto had pulled the three together with some ridiculous bird technique and forced them to work together.

And the collaboration technique with wind that Sasuke was now adamantly certain was caused by Naruto, was, put simply, exhilarating. Even when he was so furious and controlled by his anger months ago, the fireball had not even reached half that size. Wind completed what he needed to take down his brother.

But then, Sakura was just as annoying as ever, shrill, high-pitched harpy that she was. And _god_, the _fangirling_. She would just _not stop_ at continually asking him if he would like to eat dinner with her, or anything else that would implicate going on a _date_. Could she not recognize and _take_ a hint when one was given to her?

And _Naruto_. Strangely capable, sure, but why had he just _stopped_ being capable after the evaluation day? It was like a huge veil just dropped and smothered every last bit of impressive talent in him—in fact, the only thing that was left from that day was his bird thing. Admittedly, they hadn't done much training other than chakra control and genjutsu breaking since evaluation day, but _something_ about him just reeked of clumsiness and everything a shinobi shouldn't be. And he was _so _insufferably happy and loud all the time.

Yesterday, though, Sasuke had caught Naruto bolting out of the Grand Archive at a breakneck speed and had not even responded when Sasuke called out. There were two things about the whole scene that bothered him—how Naruto was in the _Grand _Archive, and how he had possessed a look of _fear_ on his face. Never, _never_, in all the times he had seen Naruto before had he ever seen _fear_ on the boy's face. Not in front of a pissed-off teacher, not in front of the Hokage, Kakashi, _any_ ninja, any spar, any test, _anything_.

Sasuke shoved the thoughts aside and decided to confront Naruto later.

Problem was, Naruto didn't seem to be showing up.

Sasuke resigned himself to sitting down and sharpening a few of his shuriken while tuning out Sakura, but by the time Kakashi had arrived an hour later, Naruto was still nowhere to be seen and stress levels were running high.

By now, even Sakura was looking a little concerned at the absence of the normally dutiful member in their team. Kakashi's eyes betrayed a more serious undertone to his normal body language—he'd also sensed that Naruto's absence was extremely abnormal, and this fact was conspicuously affecting all of them.

"Say, Sasuke, have you seen Naruto this morning?" inquired Kakashi, amiable speech covering up a grave undertone. Sasuke shook his head and scowled at the ground beneath him. Kakashi turned to her next. "How about you, Sakura?" Sakura jumped at Kakashi's question but also denied any knowledge on the subject.

"Well," he continued, clapping his hands together. "We can always run through some katas before he comes. Academy positions, children! We might be here for a while." Countenance devoid of all expression, Kakashi stuck his hands in his pockets and stared expectantly at the two. Sakura sighed before assuming a stance, and Sasuke followed. They exchanged a glance, both noting the apparent lack of orange porn novels. Over their two months (almost) of being under his tutelage, the lack of his porn meant serious issues were brewing on his mind. Kakashi remained silent and alert, despite the surface attempt at being lazily unconcerned.

It wasn't long before the sound of running steps approached the three.

And there was Naruto, painted dove grey and orange and bright, bright yellow, with an uncharacteristic look of heaviness on him. Sasuke, slightly entranced by this strange sight, ignored the irritating portion of his mind that urged him to kill the boy for being late, while Sakura, to his left, emulated the exact feelings of that suppressed side to him.

Kakashi, Sasuke noted, was genuinely surprised by this sudden arrival.

The stage was captured by silence when Naruto opened his mouth to say something to Kakashi, completely ignoring his teammates behind him.

"Kakashi-sensei, can I ask question? Consider it history trivia?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye and paused, as if to say something, but nodded grimly instead. Naruto, who was looking down at the floor this whole time, at last raised his eyes to his teacher's and pulled out a strange, silver object from his pocket. Sasuke, forced to remain where he was, could not see anything of Naruto or what Naruto was holding, except for his back. Kakashi's eyes widened and all professionalism seemed to fall away. Sasuke grew increasingly frustrated, and he could tell that Sakura was too.

"Well, tell me, sensei. Were my—" he stopped, took a deep breath, recomposed himself, started over. "If you knew my parents, then tell me, were they heroes twelve years ago?"

"I—"

"Please, sensei." An edge of desperation was beginning to show itself in his tone. Kakashi's gray eyes flickered in an indecipherable emotion.

"They…" Kakashi paused, and seemingly forced himself to continue. "They were." Something oddly cold seemed to creep into the air, strangely still. Even the birds in the forest around them seemed to stop singing, the crickets stop chirping.

"I see." Naruto lowered his gaze again, then tilted his head back up. "Is it alright if I take the day to read up on history? I wasn't really good about it in the Academy, and I want to catch up on stuff." If he was trying to inject cheer into his voice, he failed, miserably.

"I'll quiz you tomorrow to make sure you didn't slack." Kakashi, while much more adept at changing his tone, still had a tremor that didn't disappear. With a nod, Naruto, half turned towards Sasuke and Sakura and half turned towards Kakashi, Sasuke could almost swear that he had read the words 'thank you' on his barely-moving lips, and Naruto took off.

Kakashi dismissed the two wordlessly, and they left without much question.

Team 7 didn't meet again for four whole days.


End file.
